Startertask:

Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. - Steve Jobs

Designing an effective marketing mix

Learning objectives:

£ I can recall the 4Ps of the marketing mix££ I have establised how a business can make best use of its marketing mix by creating a coherent image£££ I have evaluated the marketing mix of a given company and product

A customer is influenced by many factors when deciding whether or not to purchase a product. The combination of these factors is known as the marketing mix. By developing an effective marketing mix, a business can meet the needs of its customers successfully.You need to be aware of:* The meaning of the marketing mix* The influences on the marketing mix* The importance of an integrated marketing mix

Ford get their marketing mix wrong with the Edsel

The Edsel was an car manufactured by the Ford during the 1958, 1959, and 1960 model years. The Edsel never gained popularity with contemporary American car buyers and sold poorly. Consequently, the Ford Motor Company lost millions of dollars on the Edsel's development, manufacture, and marketing. The name "Edsel" has since become synonymous with failure.

So why did it fail?A small army worth of factors came together to curse the Edsel. A name that didn’t resonate with the crowd, a bizarre pricing strategy, and a national recession have all been cited as factors by those who use the Edsel as an example of how not to market a product.

The marketing mix

The marketing mix ia a balance between the four main elements needed to carry out the marketing strategy. It consists of the '4Ps': product, price, promotion and placeWhen marketing their products firms need to create a successful mix of:

To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions:

The product has to have the right features - for example, it must look good and work well.

The price must be right. Consumer will need to buy in large numbers to produce a healthy profit.

The goods must be in the right place at the right time. Making sure that the goods arrive when and where they are wanted is an important operation.

The target group needs to be made aware of the existence and availability of the product through promotion. Successful promotion helps a firm to spread costs over a larger output.

For example, a company like Kellogg's is constantly developing new breakfast cereals - the product element is the new product itself, getting the price right involves examining customer perceptions and rival products as well as costs of manufacture, promotion involves engaging in a range of promotional activities e.g. competitions, product tasting etc, and place involves using the best possible channels of distribution such as leading supermarket chains.The product is the central point on which marketing energy must focus. Finding out how to make the product, setting up the production line, providing the finance and manufacturing the product are not the responsibility of the marketing function. However, it is concerned with what the product means to the customer. Marketing therefore plays a key role in determining such aspects as:

the appearance of the product - in line with the requirements of the market

the function of the product - products must address the needs of customers as identified through market research.

A marketing mix for Manchester United

_What are the main elements of the marketing mix of Manchester United?
First of all the product includes providing an excellent football team
that plays and wins in an exciting way. However, there are other
ingredients of the product including merchandising such as the sale of
shirts, and a range of memorabilia. The product also relates to
television rights, and Manchester United's own television channel. In
one respect the place is Old Trafford where home games are played, but
Manchester United also plays at a range of other venues. And, of course
its products are sold across the globe, through the club's website and a
range of other sales media. Manchester United markets itself as a
global brand. The club also engages in a range of joint promotional
activities, for example with the mobile phone company Vodafone.
Manchester United books, shirts, programmes, keyrings and many other
items are sold and promoted through its website. The club has positioned
itself at the upmarket premier end of the market and, as a result, it
tends to charge premium prices as evidenced by the high cost of a season
ticket to watch home league games.Positioning or repositioning a
product - refers to locating that product within a market for example
presenting it is an upmarket or downmarket product. Positioning it as a
product for younger consumers or older consumers etc.

Can you find out what mistakes Apple made with their marketing mix, that lead to to downfall of the Apple Lisa?